Why sign in to the Community?

  • Submit a question
  • Check your notifications
Sign in to the Community or Sign in to TurboTax and start working on your taxes
Level 2
posted Apr 1, 2020 2:09:06 PM

Calculating Support with Scholarship

I am a undergraduate student (under 24) and am trying to decide whether I can be claimed as a dependent by my parents.  I am a bit confused on how to calculate my total support to determine whether I provided more than half of my own support.  I'll make up some numbers as an example - suppose I paid $10K of my expenses from earned income, my parents paid $8K of my expenses during the year, and a scholarship I have paid $30K of my expenses (the scholarship exceeds qualifying education expenses if that matters).  Based on looking at Pub. 501 and Section 152 of the tax code, I feel like there are two possible interpretations:

 

1) (The common interpretation I have seen on the forums thus far) I haven't provided half of my own support.  My total expenses were $48K, the scholarship paid for $30K of my expenses and I only paid for $10K, and scholarships don't count as me providing my own support - $10K / ($10K + $8K + $30K) < 1/2.  I can be claimed as a dependent.

 

2) Section 152 of the tax code says that "amounts received as scholarships... shall not be taken into account" for the purposes of determining whether a student provided more than half of their own support and Pub. 501 also notes "a scholarship received by a child who is a student isn't taken into account..." and later on, in the qualifying relative section, notes not to count scholarships received by student children in total support.  Then my total support provided, not accounting for the scholarship amount, is $18K, and I provided more than half of my own support ($10K / $18K > 1/2).  I can't be claimed as a dependent.

 

I'm confused because it seems that the first interpretation counts scholarships received in total support which goes against what's stated in Pub. 501, while the second interpretation seems to omit a lot of expenses incurred during the year (namely, education expenses).  Which interpretation is correct, or are both reasonable?  Thanks!

0 73 7406
24 Replies
Level 15
Apr 1, 2020 2:16:56 PM

You are simply misinterpreting the 2nd part.  Scholarships are third party support and do not count as support provided by the student, under the qualifying child dependent rules.  

 

Educational costs ARE part of your support.

 

Level 2
Jul 3, 2020 1:53:06 PM

Sorry for not replying earlier.  Where in the laws/publications are you seeing that scholarships are counted as third party support?  In Pub. 501 it explicitly states to not count scholarships received in total support, and the relevant test is whether the student provides more than half of their total support.  (Thus, scholarships are not counted as provided by the student, i.e. the numerator, but are also not counted in the denominator of total support, in my reading.)

Level 15
Jul 3, 2020 6:17:07 PM

 

I'm interpreting the wording on the support work sheet.

http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

 

You do not include scholarships  on line 1 (student's funds).  So, it's not in the numerator.

 

You do include total educational expenses on Line 15, even those paid by scholarship.  

So, scholarships, per se, are not entered on the work sheet.  So "scholarships are third party support" may not be technically correct, but that's the effect.

Level 2
Jul 3, 2020 8:30:50 PM

I see, thank you!

Level 15
Jul 4, 2020 6:49:57 AM

There are only two possible ways a student can lay any claim to providing more than half of their own support.

1. The student is self-employed or has a W-2 job that earns them sufficient income to support a claim of providing more than half of their own support. The earned income must be more than the total of all third party support (scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, Gift from Aunt Mary, money from mom and dad, etc.) received from all sources during the tax year.

2) The student is the *PRIMARY* borrower on a *qualified* student loan and sufficient funds were distributed to the student during the tax year to support a claim of providing more than half their own support. Additionally, the amount distributed from the loan during the tax year must exceed the total of all third party support (clarified above) received from all sources during the tax year.

Even if one or both of the above are true, it's still possible for the student to qualify as a dependent on the parents tax return. If you'll note, there is *NO* limits on the student's earned income, or borrowed money. The student could earn a million dollars (literally!) and still qualify as a dependent on the parent's tax return.

This is because this is based on "support", not income. The support costs also have to be reasonable. For example, if the student earned $100,000 during the tax year, and also received $80,000 in scholarships, grants, 529 distribtions, etc, that would mean the total cost of support for the student for the entire tax year would have to exceed $160,000. That is not going to fly with the IRS for an undergraduate student for just one year. I don't care where the student may be attending college on this planet.

In other words, costs have to be reasonable. So no $5000/mo penthouse suites with steak and eggs for breakfast and steak and lobster for lunch and dinner everyday as they take their high cost chauffeured limousine to class each day.

Yeah, it sounds ridiculous. But you get the point. 🙂

Level 3
Oct 12, 2022 1:48:05 AM

Trying to figure out if my son can file as independent on his 2021 taxes or Hass to be claimed as a dependent. I do not provide half of his support. His father who I am not married to does not provide half of his support. He earns $10,000 in a summer internship that was out of state. 

My son has a large scholarship on his 1098 t box 5 is much greater than box one. In 2021 breaks from school were canceled due to Covid. He lived at school and out of state during the summer. If neither parent provided more than half of his support… and he used his income and any savings he had and mostly the scholarship to provide his support can he be considered independent??  

 

 

Level 3
Oct 12, 2022 2:12:42 AM

I’m reading this now and it doesn’t make sense that the income has been more than all third-party including scholarship and parent support 

 

If my son has income of 10,000 from a summer internship gets a huge amount of scholarship to pay for room and board and neither of his parents provide support and his internship is out of state then is it considered that he provides half of his support? Neither of the parents do. He goes to Princeton and he gets a sizable scholarship. Need to file his 2021 extended taxes and have been getting H&R Block telling me this scholarship can be used to count towards support and Turbotax says no it cannot - So nobody providing half of his support? Isn’t he providing half of his support if he’s using his income and any savings he has and not getting anything from his parents? 

Level 15
Oct 12, 2022 6:06:34 AM

With the tax law change, effective 2018, most students will get the same refund (or pay the same tax) whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased.

 

To claim the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Tuition Credit, a fulltime student, under 24, would have to have supported himself (more than half his support) on earned income (not savings and scholarships). To claim the non-refundable education credit, it's only neccessary that the parent forgo claiming him as a dependent (and forgo getting the $500 dependent credit). 

 

For tax years 2020 and 2021, there was the issue of qualifying for stimulus money, which only non dependents could claim on their own return.  But, if he's your dependent, you get to claim the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit/Stimulus. 

 

Q.  So nobody is providing half of his support? 

A.  Yes, if the tuition and expenses paid by scholarship (third party) are large enough.  In that case, the parent can still claim him as a dependent, but he can not claim independent. To claim independent, it is not neccessary that he provided more than half his own support, only that he doesn't qualify as someone else's dependent (e.g he is over 24 or no longer lives at home).

 

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

  1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
  2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
  3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

 

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

 

Note: Since his income is more than $4300 (and/or you did not provide more than half his support), he can not be your Qualifying Relative dependent.  So, he either qualifies as your Quailfying Child dependent or not a dependent, at all.

 

 

Level 3
Oct 12, 2022 8:47:25 PM

Hi -

I do not think that I was clear with my question.  I do not understand your answer.

We are not interested in the American Opportunity credit.  And I do not need info on the types of dependents.

The question is can my son be independent.

 

Your answer said Yes?? I did not udnertand if you are saying yes or no! You said 'Yes, it the tution and expenses paid by scholarship (third pary) are large enough. But then you go on to say the parent can still claim his as dependent - BUT thats wasnt my question - I want to know if he can claim independent??  Then you say he cannot claim indpendent - and that it is not necessary for him to provide more than half his support - but thats what I ahve read all over - you said that he can be indpendent if he doent qualify as somoen elses dependent.  in 2021 he cannot be claimed a a dependent by either parent. IT is not clear how to calculate support - that worksheet is absurd that is provided and he doens stay in either parents house - so what caluclation is sued to determine his support? If he porvided  more of his own money than he got from any parent more than 50% but also lived off scholarhsip then how do we determine if he provided 50% - does scholarhsip go in denominaator or just the total from him and aprents wtih his amt in numerator? In which case he provided 505 of support.

Howver that amount was not enough to live on - e used the scholarhsip as well...teh schoalrhsip provided more than any parent - parents provided no supoprt. 

I have to get this done byu Friday so I hope you can answer - it is better for him to be indpendent in 2021 - also in 2022 he will not be indepednent becaause he will not be porivede 50% of his support and scholarhsip will be much smaller - can he be indpendent one year andno the next or once he is indpendent he must stay that way? Thanks so much

 

I am a single mom on disability and not married to his father.  Neither of us provide 50% of his support and He lives at school and then when not at school -i.e summer he was out of state for an internship and supported himself with savings and earnings. He goes to Princeton and has a sizeable scholarhsip iwth box 5 far in excess of box 1 on 1098t. 

Can scholarship count as part of his support if it is very large? And if not, then if he is not a dependent for either parent - and lives at school or out of state in summer- then why can't he be considered indpendent. hsi twin sister is filing first time and had loans that did count as her support so is independent. 

You mentioned 

Level 15
Oct 13, 2022 5:01:09 AM

Q. The question is can my son be independent?

A. My opinion is that he cannot claim independent.  For tax purposes, the real question is can anyone claim him as a dependent.  If the answer to that question is no, then he can claim independent.

 

As previously stated, there are two types of dependents. He cannot be a qualifying relative because his income is too high.  So we look to see if he can be a qualifying child (QC) dependent.

 

1. I assume he is under 24 and a full time student. He meets the QC age rule.

2. From your description, he does not provide more than half his own support (most of his support expenses are paid by scholarship). He meets the  QC support rule.

3. Does he reside with the parent? When a student goes away for school, he is still considered as living with the parent, even if living off campus.   Being away at school is only a temporary absence. "He was out of state for a summer internship" may introduce some fuzziness in that question, but I'm of the opinion that that is still only a temporary absence, and he resides with you.  He meets the QC residency rule.

 

My opinion is that he cannot claim independent because he can still be claimed as your QC dependent.  Note that it is not neccessary that you provided any of his support; only that he didn't provide more than half his own support.  In most cases, like yours, this ia a good thing. The parent usually wants to claim the student.  Why do you want the student to be able to claim independent.  There's usually nothing to gain.

 

Q. Can he be indpendent one year and no the next? 

A. Yes

 

Q. Can scholarship count as part of his support if it is very large?

A. Yes and no.  Scholarship money is ignored.  But the expenses it pays (tuition, room & board etc) are support not provided by the student. So, with a large scholarship, it would be nearly impossible for him to say he provided more than half his own support.

 

Q. His twin sister is filing first time and had loans that did count as her providing her own support.  So she is independent?

A. That is correct, as long as the loans are solely in her name.  If either parent is a co-signer, then that loan money is not considered her own support. Again, for most people, you don't want the student claiming independent.  The parent misses out on the dependent credit and AOC and the student cannot usually claim either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Level 3
Oct 13, 2022 8:15:59 PM

Hi Am a single mom on disability and dont even need to file.It is better for him to be indpendent and also if he applies for state halth isnruance which he will need after graduation he must be indpendent I think. So, I am not typical parent and not looking for write offs.

 

Also I have another  impotant question as I think I might have wrong turbotax version. I read someone asking ig there son has internship out otf state - can they deduct temporary housing. My son went out of state or internsip cost 4700 for rent and that doenst include the airfare  and hotels to get out there - he drove from nj t colorado and had travel expenses but I am  more concerned about ability to deduct the 4700 in rent - he is using standar deduction but from what I read this can be taken off under job expenses in the w2 income section but I do nto see it there -  I have premier version - do I need a different version home an d business becuase I wont have time to get it I dont hink and why would that be? The only thinsgs I see related to job expenses in premier are not under w2 income and are for military - pelase helpo as time is of essence if i need to get a new version of turbtotax and start all over again. 

 

Level 3
Oct 13, 2022 9:00:46 PM

I apologiz for typos I have a hand tremor - thank you for your response. I sent a respone but wanted to add to it and had another question about his temporary living expenses 4700 for internship - I erad that can be put in w2 job expense section but I dont see it anwyerhe can you help me? I hope that I dont need a different version of turbotax?? 

 

REgarding your asnwer - thank you but here is some clarification

 

That is the issue - not sure. 

1)He is my child

He is only 22 so qulaifying child QC?

 

2) I am not sure how you calulate half of his support - the worksheet asks for housing expenses is too hard and he but he is not here more than 2 nights a year and I dont know about h is father. 

I do not undertand how scholarhip factors in - he made 10k in summer - if neither parent  provides him with support - he had large schlarhsip but still no parent provided half of his support - but you sayd schoalrhsip causes him to not pprovide half of his suppoort - i read other stuff on here about pub 501 and another similar quiestion but ewanting to know if daughter is depdnent - if what my son makes is in numerator and someone on turbotax mentioned that scholarhsips are not inlcuded in numeraotor or denominator - then if you ingore scholarhsip then my son does provide more than half his support....I cant remember where I aw the questions and had several confusing asnwers. 

3) where he resides: AS far as where he lives - obviously at college - and as I said in summer out of state supporting hismelf.  He usually spends breaks at college. the only time he ever comes home is on holiday - a day with me and a day with his father  - It is a difficult heartbreaking family situation - so his i snot a normal situation.   He only stays here 2 night a year xmas eve and another night. I do not now when he stays at his fathers as it is an adversarial situation and no communication. 

3) why do I want him independent - 

also besides me being single mom and disability and no need to write off anything - I dont even have to file - so that is unusual  realize most poeple want to claim their kids

 

as i said he may need to be indpendent to qulaify for state health insurance - i cant get an asnwer from them...and i jsut want to make sure it is ok for him to be indpendent in case that is required but want to do the correct thing on taxes. His father is on medicaid NJ and being dropped and so then is my son being dropped - his father told him to be independent and apply on his own - not sure if thats required by state health isnurance mdicaid - so complicated situation 

 

but you are saying that if nobody can claim his as dependent then he can be indpendent? 

If scholarhsip is ignored - then wooudnt that mean that my son does pay half his suppport since you dont count scholarhsip? Sooemone on turbotax on phone last apriol said becuase it was unsudally large should cvocunt s his  own support ! I file dextension but now I am behind the gun and was waiting for the father to give me infomation to help decidebut he didnt...

 

And I sent you another mesage about where to put his 4700 in temprary living expenses as someone wrote in about it and was told to put it in w2 income section under job expenses  but I do nto see that and now amafarid I got wrong turbtoax version - i have premier is is suppsoed to be home busines to do that? I have had cd version onmy pc so allt he tax versiosn would then have to be done over again if i ned that version right? Can you tell me where that would go on premier version as I cant find it and the question i think was from 2019

Level 3
Oct 13, 2022 9:09:16 PM

Hi Al  thanks for all of your help with qeustion in indepdent I am asking another qstn about where to put my sons temp living expenses for internship out of state and caem across the following that was asnwere in 20-19 but I cant find w2 job expoenses in income - and nowhere else - where can i pout that and is premier the worng version as i got cd and did 8 versions of taxes on hard drive that i would need to do over and get new version of turbotax quickly to make monday oct 17...do i need home and business sas that would really stink -this is what was posted that i found but cannot find where this is in w2 income job expenses doesnt show up in poremier and sorry for typos due to tremor

 

Level 9
‎May 31, 2019 11:14 PM
 
Yes you can deduct the fees you had to pay for your temporary housing while you were working the internship. Depending on how you were paid for the internship will determine how you deduct the expenses. If you were paid via W-2, you will put the deductions under Job Expenses for W-2 Income. If you were paid with a 1099-MISC, then you would enter the expenses under the 1099-MISC. When you enter in the income into the program, keep going through all the interview questions till you get to the deductions and credits section. 
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

 

Level 15
Oct 14, 2022 5:08:31 AM

@lcolantuoni14  said "where he resides: AS far as where he lives - obviously at college".

 

In that case, he cannot be your dependent.  He can file independent.  The support question is moot. To be your QC dependent, all 3 rules must be met (age, residency, support). 

But, that also means he cannot go back to being your dependent for 2022.

 

He cannot deduct his living expenses during the internship, if he was a W-2 employee. If his pay was reported on a 1099-NEC (instead of a W-2), he is considered self employed and  the answer MIGHT be different (but probably not). 

If you are a regular W-2 employee, you are no longer (effective 2018) allowed to deduct mileage and other job expenses.  Even when you were allowed to, it was only an itemized deduction subject to the 2% of AGI threshold.

Despite the 2019 date on the other post, it was really answering a pre 2018 quesion (there was a 2019 transformation of this forum and the old questions were migrated en masse).

 

 

Level 3
Oct 14, 2022 5:31:24 PM

Hi Al thank you - however there’s a discrepancy with what you told me in one answer versus what you told me and this answer. 
I had asked in one of my questions if he’s independent this year can he then be dependent in 2022 in the next year and you said yes. 

however now you are saying no he would not be able to be. 

 

The reason why I ask is because next year is going to be different he will not have a large scholarship and he’s going for a masters degree and he is going to need financial help to pay rent off campus because they have nothing on campus…. he will be going full-time and he will not be able to pay 50% of his support. so this year 2021 was very different. 

I don’t know how to go back and look at where I asked that question before but I specifically asked if he was independent this year could he file dependent next year and you said yes and now you’re saying no. Can you please clarify and I appreciate so much your help will you be available through Monday because I have to get the taxes done by then! 

Level 3
Oct 14, 2022 5:36:04 PM

I responded to you and I’m not very good at how to navigate this response and finding stuff but I did go back and find the question that I had about if he’s independent this year can he  not be independent the next year-There was a typo so maybe you misunderstood what I was saying I should’ve said if he’s independent this year can I be dependent next year

this was your response but now your most recent one you said if he’s independent in 2021 then he cannot be my dependent in 2022 which he’s going to be going for a masters he is going for a masters and he needs help financially until spring of 2023 from fall of 2022 so although he’s independent this year he will not be independent next year are you saying that the IRS will not allow you to become a dependent after you were an independent? 
This was your question and answer that you sent me

Q. Can he be indpendent one year and no the next? 

A. Yes

Level 15
Oct 14, 2022 6:15:17 PM

Q. Can he be independent one year and no the next? 

A. Yes

That  means there is no rule against doing that, if the circumstances change.

Q.  Are you saying that the IRS will not allow you to become a dependent after you were an independent? 

A.  No. There is no such rule. 

 

When I said "But, that also means he cannot go back to being your dependent for 2022", I assumed two circumstances do not change: 1. He still does not reside with you and 2. He still has more than $4300 of income.  His support changing, alone, is not enough. 

If he does not reside with you, he cannot be your qualifying child dependent.  If he has more than $4300 of taxable income, he cannot be your qualifying relative dependent.  Even if he has less than $4300 of income, you must provide more than half his support for him to be a qualifying relative (as oppossed to him only having to provide less than half his own support to be a qualifying child).

 

 

Level 3
Oct 14, 2022 7:07:48 PM

Wow thanks for your patience and answering questions I hope you’re gonna be around till Monday?? i’ll have to go back and reread what you wrote because my head is spinning!! 

what might possibly happen is his father will be providing the support since I won’t be able to afford to… and I believe my son has exhausted his savings and his earnings to support himself in the last two years . In 2019 I thought that legally had to put down that he Could be claimed  on somebody else’s taxes…. i’m not sure if that was right so my accountant that his father had did his taxes and put him down as independent but made a lot of mistakes and his father did not realize an extension to file is not an extension to pay so I took over the taxes in 2020 because he also is supposed to pay estimated taxes since his job was self-employed even though it was an internship. And he had a sizable scholarship so I was told by other parents from Princeton that he had to do estimated payment so I’ve been doing that since 2020. In those years his residency was off-campus because the school was closed because of Covid and then partially at his fathers. 
But both Times I put down that he could be claimed on somebody’s taxes. This would be the first year that I would be putting him down as independent partially pressured by his father to do so but I wanted to make sure it was legal so thank you for your help.

Q: so a question for you that I have is there is no box for being claimed on somebody else’s taxes it only says “can you be claimed” on somebody else’s taxes and I don’t know if the state insurance considers that as being independent or do they assume that you have been claimed on somebody else’s taxes and how would they know if you were claimed on somebody else’s taxes? Why isn’t there a box for independent? I read in some article that if you don’t mark off a box that your return will get rejected but none of the boxes fit if he doesn’t claim that he can be a dependent. 

Well his taxes get rejected? 

 

As far as Residency for 2022 the spring and the fall calendar year…. He had a large scholarship for the spring of 2022 but he will not have a scholarship for the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023. I have asked him and his father if  his savings and his and earnings  provide  50% of his support and his father will not give me a direct answer - he controls my son‘s money it’s a bad situation  - 

but I know pretty certainly that my son has provided his full support since in college -he also used his savings… I am assuming that his savings can be considered part of his support? But because of the residency and the fact that he only started doing taxes in 2019 because he wasn’t required before that I have only been putting down can be claimed. 
now I believe he has exhausted his savings by providing his own support along with his earnings. And that is why 2022 will be different. 
His rent is substantial because he’s off-campus at Princeton University and I’m not paying for any of it because I don’t have the money I never got child support… and I’m on disability… he will either be getting help from his father or his father is going to talk him into taking out loans which I know then might count as him supporting himself like my daughter did with loans. 


Q:

so when I said he might be dependent in 2022 it depends on if he takes loans out or if his father provide support and I guess what you’re saying is it also depends if he lives with his father during school breaks? I would only be able to claim him if he lived with me during school breaks even if I don’t provide half of his support? thanks 

 

what are your hours between now and Monday!? 

Level 3
Oct 14, 2022 7:08:45 PM

Oh my God I’m sorry for that long ramble my hands tremble so I’m transcribing into my phone and it’s on organized I really appreciate how you condense it and put down question and answer to make it clear I’m sorry mine is rambling and confusing! Lisa 

Level 3
Oct 14, 2022 8:15:56 PM

Hi I’m sorry for all these questions I’m not sure if your name is Hal or Al…

I have another very important question about how magi is calculated. 
my son has a traditional IRA for 2021 with the sole purpose of bringing down his income so that he could qualify for New Jersey family care Medicaid health insurance which is why we also thought he had to be independent because I don’t know if him being able to be claimed independent even if he’s not will screw up his eligibility. 

 

New Jersey family care uses Magi - modified adjusted gross income. I thought that meant that it would be his income minus the IRA deduction which brings him to about $17,000 and you cannot make more than 18,000. Most of his income is from the scholarship. Without the IRA he’s about 23,000. But the cut off is 18,000 so we thought the IRA would bring him down. 
But New Jersey family care Medicaid uses  modified adjusted gross income- When I look it up it says to get that number which is not on the income tax form only the adjusted gross income is you need to take your adjusted gross income and you have to add back the IRA which means he won’t qualify!! There is a legal service in northern New Jersey and they have the only article that I read that said in fact you deduct the IRA to get the modified adjusted gross income to see if you are eligible for New Jersey family care. When I read about modified adjusted gross income it is very confusing but most of it looks like you have to add back the IRA can you please tell me if this is the case?? Some articles talk about how modified adjusted gross income is used to determine if you can do a Roth IRA or whatever that means but it clearly states in most of the articles that you have to add back an IRA and the only reason for taking out the IRA was to lower his income so he would qualify for New Jersey family care Medicaid.

Can you please tell me if the modified adjusted gross income subtract the IRA or you have to add it back in? That would make everything moot - His father has in my New Jersey family care and they’re going to get dropped so he has to apply on his own and that was the whole reason for him being independent if he was eligible - now the other issue a bigger issue is his income they don’t let you take out the scholarship but we thought the IRA could be deducted to get modified adjusted gross income and I’m reading now most articles say the opposite you have to add it back in and one article from a legal service that was specifically writing about modified adjusted gross income for a qualification for Medicaid New Jersey family care said you deduct it … The New Jersey family care Medicaid website says it follows the modified adjusted gross income as per the tax laws. That makes me think that the legal service is incorrect because all the other articles like Google so you have to add back in the IRA which will make him in eligible. Can you please clarify thank you so much! 

Level 15
Oct 15, 2022 6:07:37 AM

There is no one definition of MAGI (modified adjusted gross income). MAGI is calculated differently depending on the purpose.

 

It appears that, for your purposes, New Jersey family care Medicaid defines what MAGI is, not the IRS.  I don't think anybody in this tax forum is going to be able to help you with that question.

 

 

 

Level 3
Oct 15, 2022 9:19:00 AM

Thanks 

but the Nj famcare website says specifically that they moved to using modified adjusted gross income so that it would be uniform and they specifically say that it’s defined the same way as the tax code. And they require taxes. So the definitions that say the modified adjusted gross income adds back certain deductions that you had taken - is not the general definition? 
I was going to screenshot it here from the New Jersey family care website but I can’t figure out how to do it - It does reference using the modified adjusted gross income as defined by the tax code.

When you say there’s not one definition do you mean because everybody would add back their deductions and they could all vary. 
my question is do you deduct or add back the deductions that you took? 

And are you saying that even that can vary that somewhat Definitions have you deduct from your adjusted gross income and that’s your modified adjusted gross income or some can have you add to your modified adjusted gross income certain deductions that you had taken. In this case it would be an IRA and everything I read said to add it back in except for one article by a low income legal service that said you deduct it however like I said the New Jersey family care website says to use modified adjusted income as per the tax code. 
So in general would that the adding back certain deductions or subtracting certain deductions? Thanks again. 

Level 3
Oct 15, 2022 9:32:10 AM

I’m sorry I accidentally private message this to you I meant to put it out in the forum as you can see I’m not good at navigating this
Q Is Deadline missed if taxes get rejected on Oct 17

Hi I have been asking you a lot of questions about my son being able to claim independent and I just ask you something about modified adjusted gross income.

I see that I can start a new message to you with a different question. 
I am probably going to be not submitting these taxes until Monday electronically but my son also worked in Colorado so I have to submit the federal the New Jersey and the Colorado and I don’t think Colorado is able to do electronic filing.

Q But my question is what if I submit the federal and New Jersey electronically on October 17 and they get rejected-Will my son then get a penalty for late taxes. I know I’ll probably have to go to the post office for the Colorado taxes. 

Q I also read that if you don’t fill in the box that you could be claimed by somebody else that your taxes could get rejected so where is the box for independent? 

Q do you work for TurboTax or are you just a member of the community who is an most knowledgeable on taxes? 

Thanks 

Level 3
Oct 15, 2022 10:14:54 AM

Hi Hal or Al- 

am I supposed to be typing these into a message to you directly? I was reading through some information about scholarships and I have a question about a loophole that you mentioned in one of your answers. I also have questions about my daughters many required fees and classes as part of her nursing program that I also so I mentioned in a question to you. 

 

I have never nor have my kids claimed the American lifetime opportunity credit. My sons box 5 is greater than his box one on his 1098T. My daughters was but not by much and she did not need to file taxes until this year because of a job that she had combined with the 1098t. 

Q my kids are now 22 and graduated already in 2022. Was I eligible to do some thing to be able to get the American opportunity lifetime credit? I did not think that we qualified and usually I don’t even file taxes because I only have Social Security disability income. Could I or my children been able to get the a American opportunity credit?

can we amend prior tax returns or is it not worth it and for this year 2021…. I thought when I went through TurboTax that it said my son was not eligible for the credit?  I plan on doing my taxes this year even though I don’t need to but who would claim the opportunity credit if my son files independent would it be him and how is that done I don’t understand this loophole.  this pertains to both my daughter and my son they are twins. 

 

Q My daughter also had a 1098 t with 8k amount Of box 5 over box one this year and prior years it was about 2-3000. She never had to file taxes until this year because she had an income of 10,000+ the 1098 put her over the standard deduction. 
She is in a nursing program and has many CPR CNA?? Many additional fees required for nursing but she never filed taxes so she should she have?

Q You mentioned there’s a way to modify the 1098T and not use the actual numbers? Is there a way to subtract out all of these fees and CPR classes that she had? 

Is it too late to go back in time and should we just focus on this year. I’m doing my sons taxes and their father is doing my daughters I don’t think he’s aware of anything regarding the American opportunity act Or adjusting the 1098T

Q can you please explain how to get the American opportunity act if my son has a scholarship and Turbotax says he doesn’t qualify and also how to go in and change the 1098T for my daughters nursing fees. 
thanks so much